Aussie grandad wins big on unlucky number

An Australian grandfather visiting relatives in Auckland
pocketed $1 million after choosing his unlucky number to win
Lotto at the weekend.

The retired Aussie, who wants to remain anonymous, said he
started yelling and shouting "we won, we won" when he
realised his numbers had come up in Saturday night's first
division draw.

He plans to be sensible with his new-found cash - lodging it
safely in the bank until he can decide what to spend it on.

The man said he regularly plays Lotto when he visits New
Zealand because "even when you don't win, you know you're
supporting the community", and checks his tickets every
Sunday with the family.

"I send the grandchildren out to the shop to buy the paper
and we check the numbers together. This time my granddaughter
read out the numbers as I circled them on the ticket, and
they all came up on one line," he said.

"I started yelling, 'we won, we won, we won'. It was very
exciting."

He said the numbers he picked were "all special".

"Birthdays, and addresses. I even picked my unlucky number
37. So I guess that makes it a lucky number now," he laughed.

But the grandfather said he is trying to keep calm and
level-headed about becoming a millionaire, saying it's only
when people start talking about the win that he "starts to
feel butterflies in my stomach again".

He's planning to deposit his winnings - $940,482 in
Australian currency - in the bank while he weighs up what to
do with it, but helping out family in New Zealand and
overseas was his number one priority.